A VIPER in the Sand
Thursday, 27 January 2022 05:19
The test version of NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, kicks up high sinkage sand-like material while transiting NASA Glenn's Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory, or SLOPE bed. In November 2021, the latest test rover visited SLOPE to complete the next iteration of mobility testing, a critical step toward ensuring the rover is ready for its 2023 mission to the Moo Studying the Big Bang with Artificial Intelligence
Thursday, 27 January 2022 05:19
Can machine learning be used to uncover the secrets of the quark-gluon plasma? Yes - but only with sophisticated new methods.
It could hardly be more complicated: tiny particles whir around wildly with extremely high energy, countless interactions occur in the tangled mess of quantum particles, and this results in a state of matter known as "quark-gluon plasma". Immediately after the Big B Nearly 1,000 mysterious strands revealed in Milky Way's center
Thursday, 27 January 2022 05:19
An unprecedented new telescope image of the Milky Way galaxy's turbulent center has revealed nearly 1,000 mysterious strands, inexplicably dangling in space.
Stretching up to 150 light years long, the one-dimensional strands (or filaments) are found in pairs and clusters, often stacked equally spaced, side by side like strings on a harp. Using observations at radio wavelengths, Northwester New MeerKAT radio image reveals complex heart of the Milky Way
Thursday, 27 January 2022 05:19
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) has released a new MeerKAT telescope image of the centre of our Galaxy, showing radio emission from the region with unprecedented clarity and depth. The international team behind the work is publishing the initial science highlights from this image in The Astrophysical Journal. The article is accompanied by a public release of the data to the ESA has the tension on the pull
Thursday, 27 January 2022 05:19
ESA engineers need to be certain of the strength and tensile behaviour of candidate materials for coming space missions - so they pull them apart.
This tensile testing machine (otherwise known as a universal testing machine) does exactly that: a test sample is placed between its two sets of 'jaws' and subjected to a steadily increasing pull force, until the moment of fracture.
The ap Physicist solves century old problem of radiation reaction
Thursday, 27 January 2022 05:19
A Lancaster physicist has proposed a radical solution to the question of how a charged particle, such as an electron, responded to its own electromagnetic field.
This question has challenged physicists for over 100 years but mathematical physicist Dr Jonathan Gratus has suggested an alternative approach - published in the Journal of Physics A- with controversial implications.
It is w Russian cosmonaut secures U.S. visa after initial denial
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 23:05
A Russian cosmonaut has received a visa to come to the United States for routine space station training after initially having his application rejected, an incident that’s raised questions about how increased tensions over Ukraine might affect space.
Europe ready to unveil sovereign broadband constellation plan
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 22:06
The European Commission will unveil the architecture for its proposed satellite broadband constellation “in a few weeks,” the European Union commissioner in charge of space policy said Jan. 25.
The post Europe ready to unveil sovereign broadband constellation plan appeared first on SpaceNews.
Astroscale pauses debris-removal demo following anomaly
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 21:12
Astroscale said Jan. 26 it has paused an attempt to autonomously capture an in-orbit satellite for the first time after detecting “anomalous spacecraft conditions.”
The post Astroscale pauses debris-removal demo following anomaly appeared first on SpaceNews.
White House official: Norms needed for ‘satellite to satellite interaction’
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 19:30
Audrey Schaffer, director of space policy at the National Security Council, said an emerging concern is whether there should be a set of rules for satellites that dock with other satellites.
Three, two, one: astronomers predict SpaceX space junk will hit the Moon
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 19:16
A chunk of a SpaceX rocket that blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its mission will crash into the Moon in March, experts say.
The rocket was employed in 2015 to put in orbit a NASA satellite called the Deep Space Climate Observatory.
Since then the second stage of the rocket, or booster, has been floating in what mathematicians call a chaotic orbit, astronomer Bill Gray told AFP Wednesday.
It was Gray who calculated the space junk's new collision course with the Moon.
The booster passed by pretty close to the Moon in January in a rendezvous that altered its orbit, said Gray.
He is behind Project Pluto, software that allows for calculating the trajectory of asteroids and other things in space and is used in NASA-financed space observation programs.
Scientific hardware, experiments return to Earth on SpaceX CRS-24 Dragon
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 19:14
A retired microscope and samples from studies on colloids and cellular signaling are among the cargo returning from the International Space Stationaboard the 24th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission. The Dragon craft, which arrived at the station Dec. 22, 2021, was scheduled to undock Jan. 22 with splashdown the next afternoon off the coast of Florida.
These quick return flights allow scientists to make additional observations and analyses of their experiments at Kennedy Space Center, minimizing the effects of gravity on samples.
Star Trek tribute mission to fly on ULA’s Vulcan inaugural launch
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 17:07
Celestis, a company that provides space memorial services, will launch a Star Trek tribute mission on the first flight of United Launch Alliance’s new rocket Vulcan Centaur, ULA announced Jan. 26.
The post Star Trek tribute mission to fly on ULA’s Vulcan inaugural launch appeared first on SpaceNews.
Athens under snow
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 14:00
Image:
An unusual snowstorm has blanketed parts of Turkey and Greece, causing power cuts and chaos on the roads and flight cancellations. Two images from Copernicus Sentinel-2 show Athens before and after the snowstorm. GEO satellite operators seek multi-orbit strategies
Wednesday, 26 January 2022 13:25
Beyond the technical challenges of combining GEO satellites with constellations is figuring out how to work with those constellations — and if those constellations want to work with them.
The post GEO satellite operators seek multi-orbit strategies appeared first on SpaceNews.